Controlled Access Opens Doors For Mall

When Balcor Development and Schlesinger Co. bought the aging Midway Mall in 1986, ``it was a shell,`` co-owner Jim Schlesinger said. ``But it was a well- located shell.``

The partnership paid $17 million, and spent $25 million more on renovations at the western Dade County mall, renaming it Mall of the Americas. The owners aimed at a middle-class Latin market, and attracted anchors such as Luria`s, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and Oshman`s Sporting Goods, as well as other discount merchants.

Occupancy rose from a low of 30 percent shortly before the renovation to 100 percent now. Rents rose from $7 to $10 a square foot to $15 to $20 a square foot, and an eight-screen AMC theater is being renovated to add seven screens.

One strategy was to control access. T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Oshman`s agreed to have doors that open only into the mall -- none from the outside. In fact, there`s only one main entrance, and two side entrances.

``I, in effect, mandate that the smaller merchants get a look-over,`` Schlesinger said.

Schlesinger thinks many South Florida malls will have to go through a metamorphosis like what happened with Mall of the Americas.

``Many are redundant,`` he said. ``They don`t need to exist. They`re going to have to say, `Who are my shoppers? What am I going to be?```

The Falls in south Dade is falling on its face chasing affluent shoppers, Schlesinger said. The Mall at 163rd Street in northern Dade is too close to the successful Aventura Mall. Sawgrass Mills, the discount and entertainment mall under construction, is a questionable concept way out in west Broward County.